9. Interpreting Prophecy

Some of my valued correspondents have raised queries with me over WP8, Lucifer, and although I shall be answering them personally, I am currently in the middle of a series, where some of their queries may possibly be cleared up today. I am aware of the difficulty of interpreting Biblical prophecy, and in this number would like to concentrate on how to approach the passages in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.

Imagine you have an overhead projector, (OHP) and you place on the platen a clear plastic sheet with black writing on it. You then proceed to place another sheet of writing as an overlay, this time with red writing. On the screen the two parts of the information will then be seen merged together, but distinguished by colour. Prophecy is often like this. Two sets of information are presented, mingled with each other, and our task is to separate the black from the red, in order to see the thrust of the Prophet’s words.

Here is an interesting anecdote. I have a Christian friend who, some years ago, had the rather singular spiritual ability of seeing two things at once. He told me that as he looked at a certain individual he could see behind him and rather shadowy, another face, this time of a bull. Now this individual was known to be “bullish” in his behaviour. I have wondered whether our Lord might have had this ability, as we are told that “He knew what was in man”. But the point I wanted to emphasise was the “double take”, as with the OHP.

In Isaiah 14 we are presented with a being who has “fallen from heaven” but at the same time is said to die like a man, making it seem to contradict the heavenly origin. But in this prophecy two things are wound together, the black and the red, the black pointing to the earthly king of Babylon, and the red the “other head” seen behind this king, which suggests he is being controlled by a being of heavenly origin. Our problem is to separate the black from the red, to be able to understand what the Lord was saying through the prophet.

The earthly king dies, and goes to the place where other kings lie buried. The heavenly being is tormented by his ejection from heaven, and declares his intention of being re-instated.

In Ezekiel 28, we are presented with the earthly king of Tyre, but “behind” him there is another being of heavenly origin, said to be an anointed cherub, who has walked on the heavenly mountain. It has been suggested that he is none other than Adam, who walked there, and was sinless from his creation, but iniquity was found in him, and he was ejected from the garden. But that is where the similarity ends. There are other factors in Ezekiel 28 which do not add up with Adam, but speak of a heavenly being. And this is the way with “photographic overlays”, and visions of a “head behind a head”. I would suggest that the earthly king of Tyre was being manipulated and empowered by Satan behind the scenes.

I hope that these brief comments may help in the understanding of these important prophecies. More next time.

About Arthur Eedle

Arthur was born in 1931, and became a Christian in 1948. At London University he gained a 2nd honours degree in Physics. He went on to get a Teaching Diploma, and throughout his career life taught physics in England, Kenya, and Hong Kong. Coupled with his love of science, he was a keen student of Greek and Hebrew, and gave many lectures on Biblical subjects. Read more